Amuro Tooru breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw Jiangxia return unharmed.
At least the kid in the back didn't seem to have a tranquilizer gun or any other hidden projectile weapons... That was something.
Ignoring the groans of his poor, overworked car, Amuro sped down the road for a bit before pulling over in a quiet area with barely any pedestrians.
He took a deep breath, then opened the door to get out with Jiangxia, ready to face whatever bizarre surprise the little gremlin in the trunk had cooked up.
—
Meanwhile, Conan was skateboard-sprinting like his life depended on it, following Ayumi's signal. From a distance, he spotted the car where Ayumi and Jiangxia had been held—now parked by the side of the road.
Jiangxia and another man were standing at the back of the vehicle, both staring down at the trunk like they were about to open it.
Ayumi had just reported over the Detective Badge that she'd discovered a fresh human head in the trunk and suspected the car's owner of being the serial kidnapper and murderer.
But now, seeing Jiangxia also there, Conan hesitated—maybe this was all a big misunderstanding?
Then, as he got closer, Conan's body suddenly stiffened.
The man beside Jiangxia—whose hair color and build screamed "boss of some shady detective agency"—was holding a gun. A real one, not one of those cartoon-looking model kits.
And then that man waved Jiangxia off. Shooed him back before opening the trunk.
Those two actions slammed together in Conan's mind like a sudden thunderclap.
He remembered his phone call with Jiangxia earlier. Given Jiangxia's usual "buddhist-but-not-stupid" comprehension, he must have figured out that Ayumi was hiding in the trunk.
So, if this situation were all normal—a head and saw just there for... reasons—then Amuro should have been surprised, maybe a bit panicked, but not hostile. A regular person who finds a kid hiding in their trunk would yell, maybe freak out, definitely not pull a gun and act like they're opening Pandora's Box.
Only someone with a guilty conscience would act this paranoid.
Which led Conan to a horrifying conclusion:
That gun wasn't for Ayumi.
It was for Jiangxia.
In other words, Amuro was worried Jiangxia might rescue the hostage, so he made him step back to keep full control of the situation. How insidious. How evil. How... clever.
Conan's brain clicked into overdrive. He quickly filled in the missing pieces.
After the call, Jiangxia must've told Amuro that someone was in the back of the car, probably thinking it was no big deal.
But if—just if—Amuro was the actual mastermind behind the serial kidnappings, then the moment he realized there was a witness in his trunk, he'd know the jig was up.
So, now he had to clean up loose ends.
And Jiangxia? Poor Jiangxia, bless his kind heart, trusted his boss too much and ended up in a hot pot of criminal soup.
Conan clenched his fists. Why did Jiangxia always meet these kinds of people? Like that psycho psychiatrist who gunned down a police officer in the street... Was Jiangxia some kind of human ghost shikigami for murder magnets?
—
Elsewhere, Haibara Ai also caught a glimpse of the distinctive golden head standing next to Jiangxia.
She instantly recognized him as the Organization member she'd met back in Izu.
Unlike Conan, she wasn't shocked. This just confirmed her long-held suspicions: the more someone didn't look like a cadre, the more likely they were the greater evil.
Now, seeing Amuro Tooru casually motioning for Jiangxia to step aside... she immediately suspected he knew Jiangxia had figured out who was in the trunk.
Her face paled.
In her mind's eye, a vivid scene played out: Amuro standing with a cold smirk, forcing Jiangxia to strangle Ayumi with his bare hands to prove his loyalty to the Organization.
The skateboard screeched to a halt.
Snapping out of her horrifying imagination, she quietly pulled up her hood and slipped on her mask with the skill of a veteran salted fish in hiding.
Normally, if Ayumi had been captured by some rando cadre, Haibara could've made a move—draw the enemy out, let Conan make the save, everything nicely synchronized.
But not today.
Amuro had seen her with Jiangxia in Izu. If she appeared now, not only would Ayumi be toast, but Jiangxia would get blamed for harboring a wanted cadre. And with her address already exposed, the Doctor, Conan, and the whole Beika ecosystem would be in danger.
So all she could do was curl up in the shadows like a soggy takoyaki, pulling her hood tighter and thinking this is why I don't go outside.
She shouldn't have come today... Actually, she shouldn't have gone to Izu that day at all. If she'd just stayed home, she could've been bait right now, and then Jiangxia wouldn't be forced to strangle Ayumi, Ayumi wouldn't die, and Jiangxia wouldn't need therapy.
Just then, a strange pew sound rang out nearby.
She turned and saw Conan pressing the button on his belt.
With a soft hiss, the belt miraculously inflated a soccer ball.
Conan crouched low, eyes full of righteous fury, and activated his power shoes.
Haibara: "...?"
She had heard his phone call earlier—had assumed he planned to use his innocent child powers: beg, roll around, tug at heartstrings, maybe do a small pratfall.
She had not expected him to go full killing mode.
Oh, right. Edogawa still didn't know Amuro was from the Organization. He probably just saw him as a particularly stylish murderer.
She tried to stop him, but it was too late.
Conan's kick lit up like a festival—sparks, lightning, the whole shonen anime package—and the soccer ball turned into a supersonic cannonball.
It flew straight toward Amuro.
Amuro, evidently fitted with built-in danger radar, dodged like he was in The Matrix.
The ball missed him but crashed into the hood of the car, denting it so hard that the poor vehicle gave up and popped open the trunk.
Inside was not the scarf-wearing ghost child Amuro expected—
—but a pitiful-looking little girl. Unconscious. Small. Harmless.
Amuro stared at her, baffled.
Then he looked back at the two "attackers"—two grade-schoolers.
Then he looked back at the destroyed car.
Then he remembered: the tire tracks, the chewed-up spare, the kid he hit at the Princess Hotel in Izu who didn't even get a bruise.
"...?"
Were all children in the Detective Conan universe built like mini tanks now?
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 43/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*